Circumstances of MU student death in October still unclear

Thursday

Nov 23, 2017 at 10:44 AM

Caitlin Campbell

The only thing clear about the death of University of Missouri student Richard Ward III is that no one agrees on why he died.

Ward died Oct. 8 of a single gunshot wound to the head, which occurred at his apartment on Rolling Rock Drive. His friends said his death was self-inflicted — a suicide or an accident. Prosecutors suggested murder when they charged two men with felonies in connection with his death. The Columbia Police Department hasn't said much of anything.

A month-and-a-half after Ward's death, the police are still conducting a "death investigation," meaning the department has not declared they are investigating the 20-year-old man's death as a homicide. CPD spokeswoman Latisha Stroer said this week the department has not received a report about Ward from the Boone County Medical Examiner.

Officials with the Boone County Medical Examiner's office did not respond to a request for information about Ward's autopsy.

Though the circumstances of the death are still unclear, two of Ward's friends charged with felonies in connection with his death will appear again in court in the coming weeks. Darren D. Carter, 22, and Deandre T. Winters, 20, were charged with evidence tampering, which is a Class E felony if the tampering obstructs the prosecution of another felony crime. The charges indicate the men moved the handgun that killed Ward, which obstructed prosecution of "the crime of murder, a felony."

No one has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting.

Winters is scheduled for a case review and bond reduction hearing next week. Carter is scheduled for a case review Dec. 13. Josh Oxenhandler, attorney for Winters, declined to comment on the case on Wednesday.

Court documents provide some insight into the uncertainty surrounding Ward’s death. Winters, who was Ward's roommate, provided conflicting information to 911 dispatchers and then police after they had arrived at the scene. Additionally, the men removed the gun which shot Ward from the home.

Winters called 911 just before midnight on Oct. 7 and told dispatchers that his roommate had been shot at their home on Rolling Rock Drive. Later, Winters told police that he believed Ward shot himself.

Officers responding to the scene found Ward with an apparent gunshot wound just outside the door of the home, and did not find any weapons at the home, according to a probable cause statement in the case. Ward was still alive when police arrived at the home, the statement said. Police noted he had been moved from the inside of the home to the outside. His friends present at the scene — Winters, Carter and Carter's girlfriend — said they tried to provide medical treatment for the gunshot injury, according to court documents.

Winters told police that before they arrived he called Carter to the home, the probable cause statement said. At Winters’ request, Carter removed from the house the gun Winters found lying next to his roommate’s body, the statement said. Winters also told police he asked Carter to remove a mason jar from the home, which Carter’s girlfriend later said might have held marijuana, according to the statement.

ccampbell@columbiatribune.com

573-815-1719

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